Winding Lane Porches, Greenwich, Conn.
One judge had trouble tearing himself away from the photos of these two screened-in porch additions to a Greenwich, Conn., house. “I just want to keep looking at this,” he said. The other judges shared his enthusiasm, calling it “clean and simple.”
Architect Joeb Moore and his team were well-qualified to take on both outdoor spaces; he designed the original house in 1994, as well as an interior renovation in 2001. “The owners were my first clients,” he says. He and his family even traveled with them to Southeast Asia during the design of this project, gleaning ideas from the region’s many outdoor rooms.
The shape of the main porch was dictated by the three bodies of water surrounding it: a manmade pond and an existing river and lake. Its steel floor beams cantilever out from the existing foundation, and it contains three levels: a dining area, a landing that serves as a sitting room and meditation space, and a formal living room on the lowest floor. Each one connects to the pastoral setting in its own distinct way. “It’s like a three-story aviary, in a sense,” Moore says. “We were creating a set of perched spaces that look out over the water and woods.”
The second, smaller porch, which acts as a grilling and dining space, tops the existing garage. Its mahogany interiors are finished with the same boat varnish as the other porch, but with a higher degree of gloss. “It’s more sheltered than the main porch,” Moore explains. “You’re outside, but you’re more ensconced.”
Mahogany planks, spaced slightly apart from one another, form the floors of both spaces. Rainwater slips through the gaps onto a rubber waterproofing membrane. In the main porch, steel railings and guardrails hint at the brawny steel frame contained within a sleek wood wrapper. “The whole room is a skin of mahogany,” Moore points out. The bodies of water at the rear of the site made it impossible to bring in the 35-foot-tall steel columns from that direction, so general contractor Hobbs Inc. had them craned over the top of the house instead.
The additions create a pair of rooms that enhance the home’s relationship to its environment, while providing practical, usable spaces. “The two screened-in porches are beautifully integrated into the house and site,” observed one judge.
Entrant/Architect: Joeb + Partners, Architects, Greenwich, Conn.; Builder: Hobbs Inc., New Canaan, Conn.; Project size: 1,600 square feet; Site: 2.3 acres; Construction cost: Withheld; Photographer: David Sundberg/Esto.
Product Specs
Doors, windows: Duratherm Window Corp.; Hardware: Frank Allart & Co.; Lighting fixtures: BEGA/US, B-K Lighting
